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Thursday, January 29, 2015

Have you heard of Chairish? They are an exclusive curator approved, online marketplace for vintage and used furniture. I thought it would be fun to use one of their rugs to create a styleboard. You can browse their selection here. I was drawn to this modern graphic mustard and grey rug to kick off my design. I had fun choosing several items from Chairish to achieve this look. I believe a room should have several key elements of design. There should be a mixing of patterns and textures to give the eye something interesting to look at! The sunburst mirror, basket and patterned pillows bring the fun in, and the lamp has that unexpected pop of color. There should be something old paired with something new to keep it fresh. I love how this modern looking rug is married with the traditional tufted sofa and antique chest. And every space should have a great chandelier! I don't decorate my own home where everything is perfectly matching and bought in one shopping trip, what's the fun in that? Chairish is a great resource for finding the fabulous and the unexpected. I had a lot of fun browsing their site!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

I've almost forgotten how to blog it's been so long. About mid September my daughter got engaged and we were in full wedding mode for her Oct. 12th wedding. And I just haven't gotten back into the swing of blogging. But I thought I'd share some pics of the big day.

Since it was going to be in our backyard, she wanted to keep it simple but wanted touches of lace and a rustic feel with burlap. So my first order of business was deciding what to put on the tables. I bought a lot of burlap and made some runners for the guest and food tables. We borrowed the tables and chairs and the backdrop. I made paper flowers for the backs of the chairs with brown coffee filters.

blue mason jars with fresh flowers and mini white pumpkins also sat on the tables.

I made as much for this wedding as I could. Lots of bunting and banners. And I used a lot of things I already had.

We did the flowers and her bouquet ourselves.

The bride's sister did her hair

We made the food for the wedding guests, which was quite tasty.

We hung lights over the yard, had glass jar luminaries lining the driveway and floating candles in the pool.

The groom's mother and I made all the cakes for the reception and I made the wedding cake.

We couldn't have done it without all the help that day. Thanks everyone!

Friday, September 13, 2013

This room. This room has given me some fits. It's the very first thing you see when you come in my front door, so I want it to be welcoming, nice and lovely. I've changed the paint color, I've tried different furniture arrangements, I've swapped furniture with other rooms. I don't know...I'm just not loving it.
But here's the before, before we took ownership:

That bright red wall. I thought I loved it at first. But when a friend saw it and the green carpet together, she said "It's just like Christmas!" And then I came to my senses. So I painted the big red wall. I eventually painted the wall of built ins you can barely see on the right. And I painted the shutters on the windows. That's pretty much it.
Here's how the room looks now:

I got the ok from the Mr. last night to replace these couches. We've had them nine years. They've been great and served their purpose. But our daughter whose getting married could really use them, so on to a new home. I've got my eye on some Ikea ones. No more puffy brown marshmallows :)

Our entry way:

Not a lot of room in the entry way. You can either turn left to the living room or right to the office.
The living room is better than it was, and that's a good thing.
Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Welcome back to how my home has changed over the three years we've lived here. The kitchen is an extension of the family room, they are one big room. They need to flow together and have a consistent style and feel. The previous owner was doing that, but in her 80's style. Here is what the kitchen looked like before:

Holy Oak, Batman! Where do the cabinets stop and the floor begins? Is that an oak kitchen table and chairs floating there on the oak wood floor? I kid. It's not a disaster. In fact they had recently updated and remodeled this kitchen shortly before we bought the home. New appliances, new countertops, I'm not sure if the cabinets are new or were built with the house in 1987. Their photo is extra orangey for some reason.
Anyhoo, here's the kitchen today:

I tried to get the same shot they used, but it's kind of hard to see the details.

Hello bright white kitchen. So nice to see you.

Looking at the other side of the kitchen:

I don't know why this picture is crooked. Just tilt your head a bit and it will look great!

I really love my kitchen. Classic white cabinets, wood floors, plenty of cabinets and counter space. It wasn't that bad painting the cabinets. (Kind of like childbirth, enough time has gone by that it doesn't seem so bad anymore.) The only thing I would change is to have white subway tile as the backsplash.
Oh well, we can't everything.